Pawtucket Elks Lodge Building

About This Site

The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks was founded in 1868 in New York City and soon became the parent of local Elks lodges around the country. Originally open only to members of the acting and entertainment professions, the Order opened membership to other professions by the 1880s. The Pawtucket Lodge of Elks, founded in 1904, worked with the O’Malley-Fitzsimmons Company to construct their permanent Pawtucket home in 1926. The Elks had held their meetings in various other locations around the city for years. The income raised through renting portions of the building ultimately supported the Elks through the Great Depression.

This three-story, Spanish Renaissance Revival style building features a façade of buff brick laid in Flemish bond and trimmed in cast stone. The Lodge’s first floor housed the Elks’ commercial tenants, its second story features a large theater and party rooms, and its third floor includes a mezzanine with a ribbon of windows offering lovely views of downtown Pawtucket and interior openings onto the now vacant theater. A restaurant and well-trafficked bar once occupied the extensive basement.

Behind The Scenes

Walk the mezzanine, framed by a ribbon of arched windows overlooking Pawtucket on one side and the vacant theater on the other.